so thankful to work with partners up here, of course, the leadership of the u.s. attorney to hold them accountable and to let the american people know that once again, this is just the beginning. thank you. [inaudible conversations] good morning i'm michael special agent of homelands investigations in new england first i want to say thank you to our partners whom i share the stage with. who u.s. attorney the partnership the war continues it never stops for us. we're committed to that. u.s. attorney foley said document and benefit fraud task force brings together multiple agency partners rough and dismantled large scale fraud networks, and today's arrest

proves that. remains to holding them accountable. these are widespread. i mitt to you that -- you can continue watching this event on our website, c-span.org. we attack you back now to the senate where members are returning from their weekly caucus meetings live here on c-span2. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso.

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. ms. blunt rochester. the senate is voting the senate is voting whether to confirm to be a u.s. district judge for texas following that vote upper chamber will limit the debate on united nations of aaron peterson to be a u.s. district judge for alaska. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman.

mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. ms. hassan. >> good afternoon everyone. the strength of our democracy depends upon clear lines between politics and law enforcement. between intelligence and criminal investigations. and most importantly between the white house and the ballot box. that afternoon in georgia last week erase those lines that are simply unacceptable and this is even more heightened concern after the president's concerns last night. let me be clear about why this

matters. regardless of what has been stated, this is not about the 2020 election. that election has been litigated. audited, recounted, and repeatedly upheld by courts and auction officials including lots and lots of republican auction officials. this is frankly about what comes next. it is deeply alarming that just yesterday the president called for republicans his words to take over and nationalize voting that statement is that this threat to our election security the basic premise of our democracy is forward looking. to 2026, and to 2028, and institutions that safeguard our democracy. this is about whether the same

tactics seeing now or worse will be used to disrupt free and fair elections. one of the reasons why as we think about i.c.e. reform and notion of i.c.e. patrols parading around election polling stations is a very real and legitimate concern. and truth is we see whether the very institutions meant to protect our democracy will be misused to upheaval. let's be clear, it is inappropriate for a sitting president to personally involve himself in a criminal investigation tied to an election he lost. it is inappropriate for the president to advocate for actions that are wholly at odds with the constitution and two and a half centuries of state and local elections. it is inappropriate for the director of national intelligence to insert herself

into a domestic law enforcement operation far outside her statutory role. and it is profoundly inappropriate for either of them to blow lines between intelligence, law enforcement, and partisan politics. but that is exactly what happens last week in fulton county as vice-chairman of the intelligence committee i want to underscore a core legal boundary u.s. intelligence agencies are structured to operate overseas. not on domestic soil, the national security act and other laws exist precisely to prevent election officials or intelligence officials from surveilling or intervening in domestic political matters. let me be only one someone else is. old enough to remember this

came about because of the nixon administration. back in the 60s those actions that literally resulted in the creation of the oversight committee thatun e now sit as chair and now vice chair. because we know when intelligence personnel are inserted into domestic criminal investigation, especially one launched under such a thin vail of legitimacy, it raises serious legal and constitutional questions, and politicizes an institution that must remain neutral in a political. the director of national intelligence does not conduct criminal investigations. no role in executing search warrants and she's not belong on the scene of a domestic fbi search. particularly one tied to the president's personal grievances carried out under pretense of normal law enforcement.

now director gabbard argues that her presence was justified by, quote, broad statutory thoart. but broad authority to analyze intelligence is -- mr. sheehy.

ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. >> law enforcement in this country are safe in their job and a lot of what we've experienced in cities across the country starts to dissipate as they are able to effectively function and do what the american people expect them to do. so that's what's going to be happening with respect to dhs as you know we're going to be dealing with confirming judges, and then we'll be off to the next challenge.

but a good accomplishment i think today in terms of ensuring that 96% of the federal government will be funded, and i think that's a -- something for which the american people can be grateful no federal employee should be taken hostage by government shutdown something i've said before and something that the house reiterated with their action today. senators voting in the affirmative -- barasso, blackburn, britt, budd, capito, do you agree with president trump saying should nationalize elections in this country and do you have concerns about gabbard presence at that fulton county

operation in georgia? >> i don't know what she was doing in fowl fulton county but with respect to nationalizing the elections i think president has clarified what he meant by that and that is that he supports the save act with respect whether or not that signifies ensuring that only citizens of this country vote in our elections that's something i think we all agree with. there are other views probably when it comes to nationalizing federalizing elections but i think at least on that narrow issue which is what save act -- i think that's what the president was addressing. [inaudible conversations] >> call on you to use standing fill buster to try to outline democratic authority underlaw -- >> right. i guess i would just remind people that the coin of the realm in the senate is floor time. there's a finite amount of it. and we have a lot of things we

have to do. there's a housing bell that's awaiting action permitting reform, farm bill, highway bell, you can go right down the list. russia sanctions whole bunch of things that could be teed up on the floor of the senate, and so you have to make some judgment in the conference will have a conversation about that i've committed to that. that we'll talk about that idea and determine whether or not they're what the conference's views are about it and how they want to proceed. as i said we will vote on the save act, but exercising or triggering a talking filibuster has ramifications implications that i think everybody needs to be aware of. so we will have those discussions, but that's, obviously, ties the floor up for an indefinite amount of time not only unlimited dact but also unlimited amendments all of which can reset the clock. so it is not -- something that it's going to

take something that like a tremendous amount of effort, work and cooperation. and at the expension of the other things we might be doing in the senate but we're going to have a discussion about it and see where our conference is. >> after the meeting -- what is the environment like for republicans and what do you think you guys need to do better heading into the midterm elections? >> i think we feel really good about where our senate races are. the dems are targeting number of incumbents so we have races that are going to be expensive and hard fought in places like maine and north carolina. the democrats are bullish on other states like ohio and alaska. but we also have some really good opportunities we think in states potential pickups but one thing i can tell you people that are running incumbents in our conference are seasoned veterans who will outwork any of their opponents. and i'm confident that when the right resources and ability to

get their message out, that we are going to be well positioned not only to preserve and protect but hopefully to expand our senate majority. but i don't take any of these elections lightly. i think what happened in texas should be -- you know, something that ought to capture our attention and help us remind us that we need to up our game and do a better job of not only putting up a record of accomplishment for american people but then being able to deliver that message i think you look at what we've accomplished in the last year it's a -- terrific record of accomplishment for our candidates to run on the working families tax cuts had over a hundred pieces of legislation included in it which address many of the issues that working families in this country are dealing with. but we have to get out to tell that story i think over the course of the next several months we'll do that. >> on the gabbard question diewpght to get on her role in fulton county and senator cotton chair of the intelligence

committee do you have any concern about her presence there? >> i let senator cotton speak for himself, and as chairman of the intelligence committee, i don't again, i not aware of what she was doing down there, so maybe that's a question that she can answer for the intelligence committee or others who have questions about -- her involvement there. thank you all. any comment -- >> no comment at all. >> we're seeing here a president obsessed with the fact that he lost in 20 he keapght get over it and appears if there's some foreign connection here, the director of national intelligence has clearly failed to keep intelligence committee informed and effort to favor back with the president, and in an area where she's been clearly excluded for most of the recent national events including venezuela, iran, situation with nato where else. i have no other logical explanation until and unless she

comes forward and testifies. please. >> senator -- someone familiar -- [inaudible conversations] >> tulsi gabbard have time -- in georgia is that not a very good -- >> let me answer two ways. first of all, the fbi that's been over a month late on getting out the epstein files were they taking people off of getting that information out to put them on this investigation that seems like it's a thinly vailed attempt to appease the president? no. director of national intelligence -- under biden under trump 1 within obama that's a full-time job plus. running off on our own it's been reported to me that fbi was not aware she was coming. she's got this much extra time. well i don't know what she's doing in the job and again --

it goes back to the at least until i'm corrected, otherwise, assumption that she's not been involved in any ofod the briefsn iran -- on venezuela, on the circumstance with greenland and nato or any of the other national security concerns or intelligence community plays a critical role most of those have been briefed by the secretary of state or john ratcliffe. i'm not sure what she's doing. >> have you a connection between what she did in georgia and -- >> let me try to answer that in

two ways one i read the intelligence briefs on a regular basis and full staff that follows this. if there have been something percolating about foreign influence in the '26 election, i sure as hell should have seen it. and i've not seen it. and you're right if it was there she had an obligation to report it to us. and i would point out again, during trump 1 during bide biden there were regular updates from the dni and the whole law enforcement intelligence apparatus to mac sure that we can reassure americans that elections are safe. we have nothing of that and we have the exact opposite they've broken down all of the institutions put in place. on the second question of the whistle-blower. i'm going to see that complaint eminently. >> do you have -- >> i've not received it but i think it is literally tomorrow.

but let's go back and look at this for a second. it took the gang of eight six months of negotiation with the director of national intelligence to share that whistle-blower complaint this is in district conviction to what gabbard testified during her confirmation hearings that she would protect whistle-blowers, and ensure the information in a timely manner it took six month of a bipartisan pressure to get them to bring it forward. the notion of the gang of eight ftion created so that you could have this kind of communication a completely secure manner. i do not i'll take look at the complaint. but the idea that she held back for six months a request from bipartisan request from the gang of eight, is one more example of somebody that's in way over her head in this job.

[inaudible conversations] >> well, let me try -- the national intelligence report or when we did worldwide threats last year the document that comes out with that still include this was the trump administration. their last major report on this. still included we're concerned about -- you know, elections from china, russia, iran. and potentially others. and with a.i. tools, the threats go more complicated all the time you know makes what happened in

20 of look like child's play. but right now, i'm more concerned about domestic interference, i'm concerned about a president that doesn't seem hasn't read the constitution. i'm concerned about efforts to intimidate voters whether it be i.c.e. patrols or whether it be these kind of -- claims that are brought i'm concerned about the fact that i think in many states i've seen upwards of 50% of the election officials, who are all nonpartisan, have quit or retired mostly because of -- some of the threats online threats and threats and taking place. so yeah i'm very concerned about domestic interference as well as foreign interference and ability then for a foreign entity to amplify these divisions or spread -- lies. thatthat issue that's easier now

than in 2016 russia had to create fake identities to say crazy stuff and then amplify it. you don't need to create fake identities now. you can simply promote some of the theories that come out of folkings in this administration. >> two questions one -- [inaudible conversations] >> i believe it is only -- the gang of eight. and i don't know this yet but i'll have information on that next -- >> publicly or -- [inaudible conversations] >> we've had no -- no indication we get very -- i'm not sure we've had any of the letters that we've written to dni responded to every the last year. maybe one or two so you know, i can tell you this much. that our contacts with the fbi

said they were surprised as nobody her showing up. and around -- yeah go back to our set the dni has no domestic, criminal investigation responsibilities. this her job -- is to look at foreign interference in all elections. and this whole effort is the opposite of transparent. >> why -- [inaudible conversations] >> letter with the mandate, and foreign and domestic -- >> it goes back to the laws that created the whole intelligence oversight structure it goes back to the national security act that was passed after --

president nixon that goes back to entities at least connected with the intelligence community involved in a breakout -- called "watergate" and whole notion that we need to make clear our intelligence operations are outward looking. and that america doesn't -- don't need to worry about those agencies looking at them it is more of a components we go through regularly when we have 60702. it is the job of the fbi to look into that. and for her to show up, and then hypocrisy her showing up after this administration had done more to dismantle the election protections put in place, the fbi, line and center and law that passed i believe in 2019 that created in the office of director national intelligence, a formal line center, you're concerned about election security you would be fed up. you wouldn't dismantle it and folkings let go from sisa, in

terms of cybersecurity protections, they work very again -- the fact that 2020 election came off cleanly because many of the things that were put in place, obviously, cost chris krebs his job and, in fact, a clean election but everything since that time has validated that. this seems again about donald trump's obsession he lost in georgia. he lost in 2020. the fact that he kangt get that out of his head and -- whether he's directing this information it sure as heck shouldn't he do more than just talking to fbi on the frontline serving search warrant. >> have i heard -- [inaudible conversations] >> it is --

not only would it not be appropriate. i believe it would be very -- to the constitution violation the constitution is clear that elections at the gamut of the state and localities and irony here is that, that this is the hypocrisy of the moment. there will many states every one of them republican led -- that were concerned about when sisa tried to put better cybersecurity for examples in the albert system. states were concerned all republican led localities republican led oh, my god this would be letting the feds into our purview. so this is again -- allison and wonder land down is down and up is up and you have a republican presidenttt says no

trust the feds on all of this election. it is both against the constitution and it is against the position of every -- republican elected official from 20 through -- i would say 2025 we'll see i'm not sure many of them have responded. anxious to see whether they wanted to turn it all over to the feds. [inaudible conversations] >> i think, you know, i've talked to -- senator cotton we have a good working relationship. i think, you know, we are going to get gabbard testified i believe with next few weeks about the worldwide threat hearing unless she pulls out the same way she was supposed to talk to the election officials last friday and then abruptly pulled out. and you know i can assure you that -- history intelligence committee

had of working bipartisanly, and monitor election security is going to continue this year. please -- >> on the whistle-blower complaint, do you have comments in -- [inaudible conversations] >> it -- greatly concerns me that it took six months of bipartisan pressure to get what i think was supposed to be eric help me on this supposed to be delivered within 14 days how long was it before a complaint is supposed to be delivered? >> so 21 days give it a month. but it took six months of bipartisan pressure to get the document that we should have seen months ago.

[inaudible conversations] >> again, i got -- notified just over the last -- few days whether that was tied to the fact that my republican colleagues created a little bit of what was happening in georgia was so outrageous that you can't have this stone wall coming from administration i have no direct answer on that. [inaudible conversations] >> people have been talking and this is where again -- a year ago i thought it was kind

of just speculation but the idea that the president could use some event. that would be allowed to send in an insurrection act. the idea that president might send some part of a federal government like i.c.e. into patrol and suddenly people are saying well we want to make sure that -- nobody undocumented shows up at any polling station. again, preminneapolis occupation that didn't ring as true as potentially rengs true right now. and the national idea that since the president is obsessed about the fact that he won't accept the fact that he lost in 2020 -- the idea he'll ask his loyalist to do something inappropriate beyond the constitution -- scares the heck out of me and i

think it scarce the heck out of most americans because we're seeing -- the constraints move aside and come back to the fact i've raised this -- you know, repeatedly over the last number of months why would you dismantle the fbi -- center that appropriately looked at all domestic and foreign, and elections why would you undo the legally created entity within the odni on foreign align influence -- >> create some -- administration that this might not tell the truth -- i don't find that shocking at all. >> anybody else? thank you ladies and gentlemen, this will not be the last. word we'll have on this top egg. thank you.

mr. schmitt, aye.

[laughter] good afternoon everybody. under president trump kristi noem unleashed without guardrails violating constitutional rights, and refusing to coordinate with state and local law enforcement. that's not border security and that's not law and order. it is chaos. created at the top and inflicted on our neighborhoods and our cities. yesterday secretary noem who for some reason still has a job. announced that agents in minneapolis will start wearing body cameras. let me be clear kristi noem does not get credit for agents saying agents will finally do what they should have been doing all along. and why just minneapolis why not the whole country? every dhs agent everywhere should have a body camera and it

should be on. that protects americans, it protects officers, it is common sense. but executive actions are not enough, and this administration is proven it cannot be trusted. we don't need promises, we need law. that's why democrats are pushing simple uniform reforms to protect americans everywhere. first, end roving patrols. warrants that's what when you arrest somebody and break into their house you need a warrant why is i.c.e. accepted from that? you don't get the scoop innocent americans off the streets. second, accountability, i.c.e. must follow the sal rules as local police departments including independent investigations. and speaking by playing speaking of playing by the sail rules, masks need to come off. cameras need to go on.

every officer needs to have id simple plain id this is common sense. if a small town police officer upstate new york needs to have identification, why doesn't a federal officer? why are republicans against this? which is true in just about every police department in america what are they hiding? who is noem hiding who is she protecting? is it because -- so many have bad records in the i.c.e. force? don't really belong there? no more anonymous agents -- no secret operatives. these are common sense reforms. once americans already known and expect from law enforcement, if republicans should refuse to support them, then they're choosing chaos over order. they're choosing to protect i.c.e. from accountability over american lives. and one final point, since the

death of alex pretti and renée good nothing meaningful has changed. last week in port land federal agents fired tear gas that included children and colorado agents stole a woman's phone and shoved her to the ground and beat her when she tried to get it back, this must stop. republicans must change. and help us change. they need to work with us and legislate now. senator murray -- >> last week, we wrapped up 11 of our 12 funding bills and passed bills that rejected devastating cuts from trump and house republicans. it ended the slush fund continuing resolution and it took congress power of the pen back from rust boat rejected every far right poison pill. but our work is not done. there's one bill left.

dhs, because we cannot fund dhs if we do not reign in dhs. that is a clear hardline. law enforcement cannot -- under motion to consider reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of aaron christian peterson, of alaska, to be united states district judge for the district of alaska. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the mandatory quorum call under rule 22 has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of aaron christian peterson, of alaska, to be united states district judge for the district of alaska

shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo.

mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. >> the american people are demanding they are forcing a republican shutdown of dhs. the chaos brutality all of it has happened at the explicit direction of this president and the republican congress that wrote him a blank check. if republicans want democratic votes to fix this, then they need to understand that half measures won't cut it. it really is that simple.

this is stuff, legal immigrants being brutalized, american citizens being detained. american citizens being shot and killed by our own immigration enforcement. the trump administration needs to take these abuses seriously. and understand that what democrats are demanding is reasonable and it is necessary. end roving patrols hold the federal agents accountable and to the same standards as local law enforcement on the basic things like use of force get masks off, get body cameras on, and ensure proper identification. so my message to trump in this entire administration stop the lying. stop slandering american citizen and lawful immigrants, stop insulting our intelligence, and spitting on the constitution. this country sees right through this the people recognize that democrats are fighting to

protect basic american principles and basic american rights. my message to republicans, we are at the table. we are ready to negotiate serious measures to reign in these rogue federal agencies. we are focused on getting a bill and it has to be a bill that iranians in the abuses we are seeing done by i.c.e. and cvp. americans deserve accountability. we will settle for nothing less. >> this isn't -- about immigration. this is about an out of control agency and ick want to be really clear, this is not a democratic wish list. this isn't about trying to enact immigration reform all we're asking is that this federal law enforcement agency operate like every other law enforcement agency operates in the country. but they hold themselves to the

same standard that your local police is held to. you would not tolerate it. if a cop fully masked without identification snatched someone off the street in broad dealgt without a warrant or due process. because that is not safety. that is government thuggery that is government thuggery one of the reasons people are so exercised not just democrats not just progressives, but libertarians and republicans and people in urban communities and rural communities and suburbs and everybody ising angry becaue this agency in particular is out of control. this agency in particular is out of control. and we're not demanding a series of reforms that have been our long time political hobby horses.

this is not an immigration debate. this is about the rule of law. this is about whether or not someone could present themselves to you as a law enforcement officer and not have any proof that they are a law enforcement officer. and so the necks two weeks are about putting an end to that. agents need warrants, they need to properly identify themselves and if you tiewk anybody in law enforcement, a service member, a federal law enforcement, county pd they all say i'm officer so and so. here's my badge. that is part of public safety. i.c.e. -- is asking you to say that the rules don't apply to them. the basic expectations of police conduct don't apply to them. the constitution of the united states doesn't apply to them.

and i think americans across the political spectrum and across every geography are saying enough is enough. >>. your question -- what do you think to allow major and wire minority talking filibuster to stop the save act? >> look we have to get this done and question of to get it done very quickly. the save act is an abomination jim crow 2.0 across the country we're going to do everything to stop it. yes. >> leader -- [inaudible conversations] said a moment ago -- off the table but -- assume -- [inaudible conversations]n, how confident are you that you can achieve that? >> if leader thune negotiates in good faith, we can get it done. we expect to present to the republicans a very serious

detailed proposal very shortly. >> yes. >> thune also said just now that you're negotiating with the white house not a part of -- are you negotiating? >> first leader thune has been and should be part of these negotiations second we just -- house vote just passed we're going to present a serious proposal detailed on the along the outline of what we have talked about. to the republicans both in the senate, the house and the white house very shortly. yes? leader jeffries, voted against this deal that you guys negotiated here in the senate is there a disconnect between you and leader jeffreys? >> we're talking all of the time, and we'll be meeting this afternoon to continue our discussion. thank you.

mr. husted, aye. ms. ernst, aye. senators voting in the >> i want to welcome all members of congress the different caucuses that are here particularly the congressional hispanic caucus that's been doing a tremendous job. withsa immigration, we saw our

member joaquin castro this week lead -- back to his house. welcome back to the house. we want to thank you joaquin for your humanity, your commitment to justice. and, of course, yesterday we got a favorable ruling by a federal court saying that we could enter any detention center without prior notice so we're going to be able to exercise our oversight responsibilities and duties. without any impairment or pushback from i.c.e. or the secretary. and finally, you know, whole series of proposals including unmasking i.c.e. submitted by congresswoman that is a common sense proposal.

... that are here taking seriously and this agency and do anything that doesn't. you take apart make sure you put it in the trash so this is what we need to do and on the way there the person leading the agency, the killing, the

shooting and we are here to support robin kelly, and page secretary noem. our here to say immigration ice has gone full circle the american people see it for what it is, an abuse, threatening and terrorizing families and other want to do is bring food to our table and pay our taxes while we do that.

and the rational black caucus and they are here with us today. enough is enough. enough is enough. [chanting]

[cheering] from new york and the american caucus. [cheering] thank you so much to my colleagues. from the ages here today say loud and clear kristi noem has got to go. [cheering] [chanting]

no federal agency operate about the law and that is exactly what is happening in this leadership, unidentified masked men are kidnapping people on the street and their appearance and the elderly american man was handcuffed in the snow with just underwear and sandals. this man was not a violent criminal, the worst of the worst, he was a father, uncle, son, and an american citizen. unleashed on our street and this

administration, citizens it does not matter. willing to shoot american citizens plot see the horrible markers with alex pretti and supposed to keep our. democrat, republican or independent, we are seeing a trial of what we hold dear. mark my words, justice and accountability, not a matter of if but when. the congressional black caucus.

[cheering] >> good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us, it's imperative. congressional black caucus and the six rational district. i want to thank the leaders of our districts. brad writer. and for their presence here today. like many americans will we continue in our american cities. ice is operating without. lawlessness in minnesota.

we watched our neighbors terrorize and brutalize and is in americans killed in cold blood by masked ice agents, funded by american taxpayer dollars it apparently they are accountable to no one. the presence of ice in our community is not about public safety. in trying americans against one another. this is a direct attack on civil rights and due process target is a public.

chrissy known has to provide congress but the american people with the transparency and the families deserve and demand. and house democrats will not back down. they deserve so much more.

and rise above the chaos. the right to protest speak out against injustices fundamental to our democracy and protected by our constitution. thank you. thank you for being here and standing up and it's my privilege to introduce to you representative hernandez, chair of the democratic legislation caucus. >> how is everybody this morning? no longer occupy his office so

women and aging american men and women, they are not safe trumps america for walking down the street smasher our children. her leadership miller and president trump -- and this is the purpose. and the tragic killing of renée good.

that is horrendous. happening behind the camera. you shackled a woman pregnant and miscarried. he will allow women in detention centers safely assaulted and abused on a regular basis. something officer. and that is the kind of thing on

her own. we will impeach kristi noem. [chanting] [chanting] [chanting] everybody deserves dignity. doing what we are doing today and the first amendment protesting and demanding the right for our positive and we need accountability and if we

don't get accountability now we have accountability. let's do it one more time. [chanting] at this time i want to introduce the democratic progressive office, good morning. i want to thank everybody for being here and making our voices heard. i'm proud to stand alongside

caucus and freedom of the american people and the most foundational principles to determine our character. we are here today angry. kristi noem must go! in the federal agents in the terrorizing our. in the justices actions gunned

down american citizens. and should be alive and with us today. she should be driving her to school. in care of our veterans, alex pretti should be. unaccountable, and violence and chaotic. rather than making our communities safer, they are making us on short. our parks and public spaces.

and for the american people we must act to make real, substantial's change. shortly laid out the reforms and operations and masks off and body cameras on stop targeting schools and churches. we need an independent investigation and we need to stop quotation of u.s. citizens and we need kristi noem out. trump doesn't have the sense or strength to do it himself and

the impeachment inquiry and better than the administration. it is my privilege to turn it over now. >> one minute. parts of the city of chicago and let me be blunt, the greatest threat to the homeland right now

is the department of homeland security using resources. it was built for our rights and empowered the act of impunity and congress needs to send a message and why we are here today and we don't, nor will the enable lawlessness. yes, she has to design, i've been telling her this since april and the need to be oversight and that masks must come off and americans are pass reform they have used your taxpayer dollars and the homeland security and pregnant women, children, and neighbors

in the immigration enforcement and redirecting the money in minnesota, chicago and in all over the country. we must have accountability and injustice to every precious the administration. ice will be abolished and dismantled and together we look at the. ilhan omar. [cheering and applauding] >> thank you. good morning, everyone, it is an honor to be here with the all.

i represent minneapolis, which is currently under occupation. we have schools where two thirds are afraid to go to school. we have people going to the hospital because our hospitals have paramilitary. they are shutting down and we do not exaggerate we have people who are housing the people because they are afraid to go to school and that is all happening

in an american city, we have neighbors who were shot by federal agents and reported. the president poll is not to believe our eyes. when we say time for kristi noem to go need it now the terror minneapolis and we need accountability now so thank you all for being here and to get nice adversities and dismantle

department and democrats are ready and willing. >> this rally and press conference i'm here today at the department of homeland security to demand accountability for mass deportation from los

angeles to chicago accountability starts at the top and that's why i'm calling on kristi noem to be removed from office immediately. recitative are widespread human rights violation and targeting noncriminal immigrants and inhumane treatment at detention centers and last year was the deadliest with 56 people in the custody of ice. about medical neglect and unacceptable conditions

including freezing temperatures and medical emergency and in the chest pain and they neglected days later in california might is low have a duty to conduct oversight and i have been denied entry even though the requirements what is a member of congress is not required to do so and that is totally and it

raises the question, what are they trying to hide? while the cameras are on the we must ask what is happening beyond public view and the standards for individuals to establish humanitarian standards so they have enough food and water to meet the daily requirements to get they can take a shower and wash their hands and hygiene products for women and others, diapers for kids and guaranty health screenings and identify

emergencies and she has made our country less safe and more dangerous and u.s. citizens are pulled over by artist or cbp demanding violently to show citizenship, their papers, anybody suspect the authoritarian regime can be pulled over and for this, she must be impeached. [cheering] >> good morning to everyone. he may not know my name, but

kristi noem sure does because this administration is trying to put me in prison for 17 years for standing up for the department she leads but standing up to ice, because that is what this administration does. i represent communities and new jersey in constant fear terrified to step outside and send their kids to school or take a trip to the doctor because of harassment of ice and homeland security in this administration after me she tried to embarrass me i'm not ashamed of doing my job. [cheering] you ought to be ashamed of yourself. you call citizens domestic

terrorists. the judiciary. aaron christian peterson, of alaska, to be united states district judge for the district of alaska.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: mr. president, i rise on a very sad occasion, recognizing jefferson parish officer deputy christopher omire, a motor vehicle officer killed in a motor vehicle accident. his death will be felt by his family, federal officers and our ensier state. christopher o myer was a husband

and father and friend. the way he died is a testament to the way he lived. he was struck as he was serving as a motor vehicle escort by a funeral procession. in his final moment, he was serving someone else. i'm told that those who did not have a family were invited to be a part of his. that he brought people together, that he was deeply committed to serving community. may we pray for his family, remember his sacrifice and strive to live our legacy lick his. with gratitude to deputy ohlmeyer's service, i ask that we pause for a moment to remember deputy ohlmeyer.

thank you, mr. president. i yield. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i know that the midterm elections aren't until november 2026, but there have been some surprising results recently and some of the special elections that have been held around the country, most recently in the state senate seat in texas over the weekend. taylor remet won handily in a district won by president trump, by 17 points. some called it a warning sign saying that the support for the gop is waning in texas.

even "the new york times," maybe i should say especially "the new york times," is trying to sound the deathnil for the gop. of course of democratic friends and mainstream media will do what they can to paint president trump in a bad light for their own electoral success at the ballot box. but there is more going on here that does not just affect republicans, but literally all americans, and we should all find this development alarming. what's so alarming, may you ask? well, it's people sitting on the couch and not voting, not participating in the process of self-government. this particular special election in texas that surprised so many was decided by 15% of registered

voters. that's less than 95,000 people in a district of over 600,000 eligible voters. unfortunately, this is not an isolated event. it's happened team and time again around the country. over in houston, another special election was held, to fill the house seat of the late sylvester turner in the 18th district and it demonstrated a similar anemic turnout. christian menife won his seat by 5.6% of registered voters. when such a small group of people have such a disproportionate voice in the outcome of an election, they essentially are choosing their candidate who may or may not be

the candidate that would be supported by a broad coalition of registered voters if they had simply decided to participate. in this case, the winning democratic candidate in district 18, this is a solid blue district, even though the results may not be shocking, the small percentage of voters who participated in the election should be. this is not just a warning science to republicans, this is a warning sign to us all. when too many people sit on the sidelines, the consequences is election results that are not actually representative of the people who are being governed by these officials. some folks may say, well, it's just a small election and it really doesn't matter or i only vote when it really matters, and that is for president of the united states. but the truth is every federal state and local election

matters. it matters because it affects every aspect of our daily lives, your work, how much you get to take home in your paycheck, what your kids are taught at school and on and on and on. we are blessed it off live in what is called a democratic republic, it's not a pure democracy and it's not a pure republic, but our government derives its powers from the consent of the governed. but the primary mechanism by which self-government actually works is through elections and it's shocking to see so few people participating in our elections. if americans don't turn out to vote, including in special and midterm elections, then we are essentially forfeiting or giving up our right to a voice in self-government. make no mistake, our democratic

colleagues have a well organized ground game and they'll stop at nothing to undermine the gains we've seen just in a single year since president trump came into office. that's the way our system works. to top it off, democrats have built a nationwide lobby to support their efforts, otherwise known as the mainstream media. this brings me to another problem that undermines our self-system of government. which is it's too easy for those who can't easily vote cast a ballot. in other words, voter fraud. when someone casts a vote who is not qualified to vote in an election, it undermines the integrity of the ballot for those who are qualified to vote. for example, an illegal alien. illegal aliens, noncitizens are technically barred to vote, but in some states people are not even required to show proof of

citizenship at the time of registration. every time we talk about voter i.d., the left says we're trying to disinfranchise minorities and the underrepresented, but that is not consistent with the facts. in texas, where voter i.d. is required, you don't have it to have a driver's license, you can get a government issued identification at no cost. democrats know if you show that you are qualified to vote, their voter base will sink, especially in sanctuary states that have been havens for illegal -- illegal aliens for years. not a single person believes that you can't get a valid identification if you're a u.s. citizen. this used to be a bipartisan

consensus. you used to need i.d. to buy a phone, cash a check. so i find it hard to believe that any rational person would object to show that they are a citizen to vote in elections that are meant to represent all of us at all levels of government. the dramatic rise in mail-in voting that happened during covid-19, many americans had concerns about this particular method of voting and that it might be abused. but if the truth be told, it was. but you don't hear much about the convictions across the country against those who committed voter fraud. after all, the ballot is mailed to the wrong address, there's not much stopping the wrong person from filling it out, pretending to be someone they're not, forging a signature and dropping it in the mail. it's pretty easy, it's too easy,

nor is there anything to stop ballot harvesting, and election by, quote, well meaning, closed quote, individuals and organizations who are just trying to, quote, help out their fellow citizens. this is a very disturbing pattern. i believe the american people deserve better than to have their concerns about election security swept under the rug. i want to commend my friends, the leadership in the state of texas, the lature -- legislature and governor to make sure that m mail-in voting is secure. many blue states are not doing their part to make sure that only legally qualified voters can cast a ballot. so i'm thankful to our colleague, senator mike lee, of utah, for introducing the save

america act, that will require proof of citizenship at the time of registration as well as photo identification at the time of voting. it doesn't seem to be a big deal that voters show that they are qualified to vote or say they are who they say they are. i'm a proud cosponsor of the save america act that i believe is long overdue to strengthen the integrity of our election systems. if you think about it, all of us have a stake in this battle, whether we live in a red or blue state, particularly in federal election. because for every unqualified voter who casts a ballot, it undermines or dilutes those of us legally qualified to vote. i hope the senate will take up and pass this legislation and i and others have been discussing it with the majority leader.

but there -- but something much simpler that each and every one of us can do that can strengthen our system of representative government is to get to the polls and vote. now in texas the primary is march 3, coming up here very soon. we start early voting on february 17, and so there is a lot of time, a lot of opportunity for people to cast their ballot and to participate in their primary, whether it's on the democratic side or the republican side. i know voting is voluntary, but if you think about what's good for our country and what's good for representative democracy, you would agree with me that voter participation is far below what it should be. if you walk out of the doors of this chamber and down the hall into the capitol rotunda, you'll see a famous painting by john

turnable, it shows those gathering around the document that would set a new course in history. thomas jefferson wrote in the declaration of independence, that the government has just powers, those who sign risk their very lives because by doing so, they were committing an act of treason against great britain at the time. this year, of course, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of independence. so it's worth reflecting once again, not only on the principles of self-government that our country was founded on, but also on the sacrifices that were made by our founders and others to protect those rights, that these men and women, over time, in the armed services and

elsewhere, were willing to risk their lives in order to secure representation, surely each and every one of us ought to do our part, to participate in self-government by exercising our right to vote that so many have fought and died for. i urge each and every one of my constituents in texas, but i would like to speak to all 330 million americans -- please, participate in your elections. ours happens to be one of the earliest this midterm election season, on march 3. we all need to appreciate the privilege of self-government. just don't sit at home and complain or yell at the tv set about what's happening. make a difference. let your voice be heard. participate in this incredible experiment now we've had for 250

years in self-government that has served us so well. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. kaine: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: mr. president, i rise to talk about the issue that will dominate attention in the senate between now and next friday, friday, the 13th, a discussion about reforms to the department of homeland security and the activities it's engaged in all around the country. it is common during the 13 years that i've been in the senate for folks to talk about immigrants as a problem. it's very uncommon for people to take this floor and talk about immigrants as a strength. and based on my experience in 31 years now, coming on 32, in

elected office in virginia, i believe immigrants are a strength and not a problem. that doesn't mean there aren't issues that we need to resolve, but i think it's high time that people in this chamber talk about immigrants to this country and recognize the strengths that they bring. president trump and his administration have launched upon an unprecedented campaign against immigrants. immigrant crackdowns in virginia and elsewhere, and the claim of the administration and many who support it is that this is because of a desire to protect americans and rid american streets of criminals. i maintain that president trump has instead demeaned and dehumanized immigrants and their countries of origin since day one of his political career for

matters completely unrelated to public safety. and since he has been in power to be president, both in his first term and now this term, he's thrown everything he can at keeping people out and even rounding people up who he viewed as wrong kind of people, the other. his efforts to round up thousands and thousands of people he views as the other, on spurious charges and without due promise, are sweeping up all kinds of people, including children, and they are hurting our country, hurting our economy, and hurting my commonwealth. i'd like to start with what the president has said. these policies are motivated by a president who has said a number of things about the immigrant community, and i think these express the basic motivations for his actions. there's a beautiful phrase in the new testament that says from the fullness of the heart the

mouth speaks. on this topic, the president has a very full heart, and he has spoken very plainly about his motivation. in the speech marking the beginning of his campaign in 2016, day one, president trump embarked on a tirade against mexicans and mexican-americans, saying, quote, when mexico sends their people, they're not sending the best. they're sending people that have a lot of problems. they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, i assume, are good people. so, most of them are bad, drug addicts, criminals, rapists, but some are good people. that's the very essence of bigtory and discrimination, and we know that to be a lie. one of president trump's first actions when he became president in 2017 was to impose a ban on people entering the country if

they were coming from countries that were predominantly muslim in nature. it wasn't based on the vetting of an individual to determine if they posed a problem. if you're a muslim, if you come from a country that was predominantly muslim, you are bad. the very hessent of bigottory -- essence of bigotry and discrimination. that policy was struck down by the supreme court. the administration recalibrated it to do it in a different way. but the president revealed what is his motivation. a few months into his first term, he said, in an oval office meeting of top officials, that he thought that haitians, quote, all had aids. a deto spickable -- despicable and discriminatory lie. he also said, in that same meeting, we should keep nigerian immigrants out of the united states, because if they come to america they would, quote, never go back to their huts. tee rogatory, dis -- derogatory,

discriminatory. i don't like to curse. i'm not perfect at this, but i don't like to curse, and when i try, i can't do it convincingly. and i don't like to quote people who are cursing, but i'm going to do that because i don't think this should be sanitized. later in his first term, at a meeting with top cabinet officials in the white house staff, and senators, president trump said, why do we want all these people from shithole countries coming here? now, at the time when that was revealed, the president denied it, said he had not used that phrase, but we know that that was a lie, because recently at rallies he's been acknowledging that he used that phrase, and he still uses that phrase. just a few months ago, he loudly and proudly repeated the same line. he said, remember i said to senators, the democrats came in, they wanted to be bipartisan, so they came in, we had a meeting, and i say, why is it we only

take people from shithole countries, right? this is the president recently acknowledging that language, discriminatory and bigoting language. why can't we have people from norway, sweden, just a few, let us have a few from denmark. do you mind sending us a few people? send us some nice people. do you mind? but we always take people from somalia, places that are a disaster, filthy, dirty, disgusting, riddled with crime. bigoted and discriminatory. linger on that. nice people from scandinavia. instead of filthy or dirty places like somalia. recently, the president, after canceling many refugee programs from other nations, including cuba, opened up a path for refugees to come from south africa, if -- if -- they're afrikaners. south africa has all kinds of ethnic groups, afrikanas are

just one. the path for refugees coming to the united states from south africa was limited to afrikaners, even though they're represented in the current national unity government of south africa. but he claimed that afrikaners are persecuted. notice a few months later, he claimed my jeer jan yance -- nigerians were being persecuted if they're christian, you about he wouldn't open up a path for my jeer cans to -- for nigerians to come to the united states. he says we'll have a refugee program for afrikaners, but nigerians being persecuted, even for their christian faith, there's no refugee path for them. what is the difference between an afrikaner and nigerian subject to persecution? i think we all know the answer to the question. if you support president trump's

immigration policies, i think you have to look in the mirror and grapple with the fact that his motivation is about fundamentally not liking people of different skin colors, from continents or countries that he views as disfavorable or who come from religious backgrounds that he views as disfavorable. anyone supporting president trump's policies ought to look in the mirror and ask if that is a motivation you share, or is that a motivation you reject? let me turn now from the president's motivations that explain this entire policy to the actual actions. president trump's immigration crackdown has been violent. it's been inhumane. it's rounded up innocent people, mothers, children. it's rounded up u.s. citizens. the visceral disdain for immigrants, but particularly for those who don't look like him or

from countries he doesn't like, has led to a crackdown that has far exceeded -- far exceeded the stated claim that it is about law enforcement and public safety. while he and his enablers claim that they're after the, quote, worst of the worst, or that they're only going after people who are criminals, that's just not true. last month, federal agents dethaned this youngster -- detained this youngster, 5-year-old liam conejo ramos and his father from minneapolis, minnesota. is this a criminal? is this a public safety threat to the united states? how could you make that argument with a straight face or accept it from a president with the kind of motivation that he has demonstrated in his hostility to immigrants? liam had just gotten home from preschool with his spider-man backpack and his bunny stocking

cap. he and his father were held in a facility in texas, more than a thousand miles from their home, for over a week, until a federal judge ordered that they be released. dangerous criminal. keeping our streets safe. over a two-month period last year, according to the right-leaning cato institute, nearly three-quarters of people rounded up by ice had no criminal conviction. none whatsoever. of those who did have a criminal conviction, the biggest category was, drumroll, traffic violations. from february 2025 -- i'm sorry, in february 2025, 3,165 immigrants with no criminal charges or convictions were detained by ice. 3,000 in february 2025. last month, january 2026, the number of people detained by

ice, with no criminal conviction and no criminal charges, had grown to 25,193. from september 21, 2025, until last month, january 7, single-day ice detentions increased to 11,296 a day. again, this stat showed that well over two-thirds had no criminal convictions and no criminal charges. how about u.s. citizens? as of october 2025, more than 107 u.s. citizens were detained by immigration agents. that's what we know of. two dozen were held more than a day without being able to call their loved ones or a lawyer. more than 20 of those u.s. citizens detained were children, and two had cancer. more than 50 mrern assistants were de -- 50 american assistants were detained by ice on suspicion of being undocumented. all 50 were latino, people whose

skin color or ethnic background have been demonstrated by the president to be those he disapproves. late last month ice agents went to a u.s. citizen's house with no warrant, broke his door down, dragged him from his home at gunpoint in his underwear in below-freezing temperatures in front of his 4-year-old grandson. neighbors look it all on video. the ice agents drove him to the middle of nowhere, and made him stand in the cold while they photographed him undressed, then they finally drove him back to his home and dropped him off there with his broken-down front door. this is not about law enforcement! this is not about pluck safety. this is a -- not about public safety. this is a campaign against people because of the color of their skin or where they are from. if you support president trump's policies, you have to ask yourself, wait a minute. it's not really about law

enforcement. it's about 5-year-old kids. it's about u.s. citizens. it's about people who have no criminal background. you ought to ask yourself whether that's, in fact, what you support. immigrants are crucial and beneficial to the economy in virginia and throughout america. just some statistics -- nationwide, our immigrant families generated more than $236 billion in income in 2022, and paid nearly $66 billion in local, state, and federal taxes. the congressional budget office estimates that immigration flows to the u.s., that are projected currently, will likely increase american gross domestic product by nearly $9 trillion between now and 2034, if we don't screw it up. as of june 2025, 15.4% of u.s. residents are immigrants, including naturalized u.s.

citizens. so everyone in this room has in their state hardworking immigrant families who do not appreciate being demonized by the president and his policies. mr. president, immigrants make up 13.2% of virginia population. more than one in eight. when i was born, it was one of 100. i was born in 1958. one of 100 virginians in 1958 were born in another country. today it's one of eight. i guess that means if you follow the president's logic, that this has been a horrible thing for virginia, to the contrary. virginia was one of only two states in the united states that has gone from the bottom income to top per-capita income. there is nothing in life virginia today that's not dramatically better than in 1958, and the growth of our immigrant populations with their

strength and innovation and culture has been a huge part of the reason that virginia has gone from back of the pack economically to front of the pack economically. virginia has started to see some population decline in recent years except for immigration. immigration has actually enabled our state to continue to grow. growth is helpful to the economy. immigrants contribute 154 billion to the economy. 29%, nearly one-third of our main street business owners are immigrants. our main street business owners, nearly 30%. 16% of our workforce is immigrant. and let me tell you about a couple of industries in specific and give you some virginia statistics. 34% of our chefs are immigrants. 44% of our computer nears are

immigrants. 28% of our child care workers are immigrants. 52% of our painters are immigrants. 46% of our culture workers and ag forestry is still leading. 46% of our ag workers are immigrants. health aids, more than 20% of our health professionals are immigrants. mr. president, i notice this particularly when i visit rural virginia. if it weren't for immigrant trained health professionals, many of the rural parts of our state would no have health providers at all. demeaning and attacking, terrorizing and frightening, disrespecting immigrants is not only the wrong thing to do.

it hurts our country. and it hurts our economy. what would we do without 46% of our ag workers? what would we do without 43% of our construction workers or 20% of our health aids? don't they deserve some positive words and some thanks? like, thanks for choosing us. you could have chosen somewhere else. instead, you've chosen to come here and enrich our communities. and the skills i gave you are sort of manual skills to high-end computer and health professions. i could have done this with any place in virginia and we would not be the commonwealth that we are, the success that we are without the growth of our immigrant populations. and so, mr. president, i want to conclude by saying that in being here 13 years, i heard two words on this floor that talk about the contributions that immigrants have made to our

country in our entire history. it's the transfusion into the blood stream of the american economy and the american politics that keeps our nation young at 250. new skills, new ideas, new connections to places around the world. are there challenges? yes. do we need order? of course we do. should we reform? yes. but it should be within the overall framework. immigrants like this guy are not the problem. our immigrant communities are part of what makes our nation great and successful. and i'm tired, after more than 13 years of hearing immigrants just dragged down, called illegals. why don't we call people convicted-of-fraud illegals. why don't we call people convicted of sexual harassment illegals. there's only some in the united states that are called illegals,

those who entered the country illegally. there's only one kind of person we demonize with the label illegal. i'm tired of it. i'm tired of people getting kicked around because of the ken countries they came from or the color of their skin. having worked as a missionary in central america, i know why people come here. they come here for the same reason my ancestors came here from ireland. because there weren't opportunities there. things are different, but the motivations are no different. virtually everybody in this room has a story. people thought they could make a better life for themselves in the united states. and just like we don't demonize people because of roots, we shouldn't be demonizing this young 5-year-old's family and

terrorizing them like we are. any policy that begins with the assumption that immigrations are a public safety concern or a threat, instead of beginning with the reality that our immigrant communities have been part of the great success of this nation. any policy that starts with the wrong assumption is bankrupted morally, bankrupted legally, bankrupted economically. it will hurt our nation. it's already hurt our nation. it will continue to hurt it even further. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to note that the house earlier today passed a series of appropriation bills that will now be sent to the president's desk that will allow us to continue to fund our agents. mr. ricketts: and that's good news. it represents 11 of the 12 appropriation bills that we pass

every year. i want to thank our republican leader for bringing these bills to the floor. i want to thank our chair of the appropriations committee, susan collins and the ranking member patty murray for getting that done. this is important work. one of the reasons i came to the united states senate was to be able to help bring fiscal responsibility. as governor of nebraska, my budget grew at 2% per year cross eight years that demonstrates the sort of fiscal responsibility you find in states like nebraska. it's part of our nebraska solutions ready for america, it's bringing that fiscal responsibility here. it was sorely lacking under the biden administration in washington, d.c. in 2019, the federal government broadly speaking, spent $4.4 trillion, and we had a $900 billion deficit.

under joe biden's leadership, by 2024, that spending had grown to $6.8 trillion and a $1.9 trillion deficit, more than doubling the deficit. 55% increase over those five years. a 55% increase over five years in net spending. 2025, the deficit had declined by 9%. now, we still have a long way to go. we've got to get that spending under control. and that's why this appropriations process is so important. the way we get our spending under control is by bringing appropriation bills to the floor of the senate and giving us, as senators, the opportunity to offer amendments and to vote on those bills. under the previous majority democrat leadership, that did not happen. though the appropriations committee was doing its work and passing appropriation bills out

of committee, last year, 11 out of 12 and the year before that 12 out of 12. the previous democrat leaderer would not bring those to the floor and brought them after the fiscal year. so what were we forced to do? bring continuing resolution. those continuing resolutions are terrible. they're basically taking the budget and continuing to spend under the high levels we saw under the biden administration but it also undermined our national defense because when you pass continuing resolution, the military cannot do long-term planning. and we are in a very dangerous world right now. we know that communist china want to supplant us as the world leader. we see a war of aggression by russia. we see iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism, funding groups like hamas, houthis, hezbollah. and with see missiles continuing

to be launched. we passed 13 continuing resolution under the biden administration. now, under the trump administration, with republicans in charge of the senate, we are bringing these bills to the floor. we are passing them. we are getting them done. we still have to get to homeland security, and i encourage by colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work quickly with what they want to see in that bill so we can negotiate to get that bill done. and this is important, too, because homeland security is what we fund our fema out of. right? so there's going to be disruptions to fema if we don't get this done. and we just had a deadly snowstorm on the east coast, and there will be disrupted fema payments in the democrats cannot come to a solution on what they want. homeland security is how tsa gets paid, the people who make

sure we can fly safely around this country. it's how the coast guard gets paid. again, important for our national defense. so all of these things are wrapped up in homeland security. that's why it's important to get that bill done. i want to compliment the committee for getting this done and compliment leader thune for getting this done. we have 69% of the discretionary agencies. getting that done is an important step forward and getting back on track to fiscal sanity in this nation. it is sorely needed, and republicans are delivering on that here in the senate. thank you, mr. president. i yield back my time. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: mr. president, i am here today to honor a remarkable diplomat and a dear friend. ambassador kevin rudd, as he

prepares to leave his post as australian ambassador to the united states. i first got to know kevin and his wife terrace over a decade ago. now, more recently, as chairman and now vice-chairman of the senate select committee on intelligence, i've had the pleasure of working with ambassador rudd on some of the most pressing challenges of our time. with his departure, we're going to bid fair -- farewell to a statesman who has strengthened the bonds between australia and the united states. and up he held the values we sh. from the time he arrived, he proved to be a force in advancing our national interest. during his accomplished career in the australian parliament and as prime minister, he understood

the importance of engaging congress, steading the u.s.-australian relationship through changing administrations. in his three years, he delivered enduring and positive outcomes for americans and australians alike. ambassador rudd spearheaded australia's push to advance security paths, expanding the broad bipartisan support and securing the endorsements of both president biden and president trump and advancing investment and implementation strategies both here in the united states and back in his home in australia. he negotiated a critical minerals agreement that is already spurring new mining and processing projects to benefit both our countries. he also spearheaded a cutting-edge tech partnership that is unlocking billions of

dollars in bilateral investment, including for a.i. and quantum technology initiatives. ambassador rudd's leadership strengthened security and our shared security alliance for decades to come. thanks, in part, to his efforts, our governments, our armed forces, our intelligence services, our private sectors and industries are working together more closely than ever, ensuring that our alliance forged on the battlefields of the last century remains unbreakable in century. under kevin's tenure, the u.s.-australia partnership has never been stronger. he understands that our alliance is not just an old friendship to be maintained. it's a living bond to be continually strengthened. he built personal relationships across the whole political spectrum.

working with democrats and republicans and across two very different presidential administrations to keep this alliance with australia above the partisan fray. kevin demonstrated that no matter republican or democrat control or whether it's labor or liberal, there's alliance of values that transcends politics. that's an extraordinary legacy to leave in government. someone who spends a lot of time thinking about china policy, i don't think there's anyone that is more informed and has, frankly, written more scholarly articles about president xi in china than kevin rudd. he's a collar on china and fluent mandarin speaker. he puts those expertise to work each day. he reminds me at times i'm to

address him as dr. rudd. kevin has been a voice of leadership and pushing back against unnecessary coercive tactics by the prc. he understands from australia's own experience that we must not allow the prc to acts a bully, either in the indo-pacific region or around the globe. kevin saw china's attempt at coercive economic diplomacy against australia backfired a few yearsback when some rallied around australia. kevin reminded us of a key lesson, when pushing back against an adversary it's best to do so in the company of africanseds rather than alone. it's at popular african proverb. if you want to go fast, go

alone. if you want to go far, go together. ambassador rudd understood that deterring aggression requires building capacity among our nations, aukus and the quad partnership. whether in shaping indo-pacific strategy, helping to refocus and strengthen the indispensable five eyes intelligence partnership, or speaking out on international norms, he made sure that australia and the united states stood shoulder to shoulder against intimidation. beyond policy achievements and strategic vision, kevin rudd is one of the sharpest minds on the diplomatic stage. few can match his knowledge of history or highways analytical depth on international affairs. that's why i hate to see him leave this post. he's not going far. he's going to return to the asia

society that he will head up in the united states. i know he will be getting back-and-forth between our two nations,er with a number of his kids and grandkids in asia. but the fact that he will it into play a policy role will be important for both our nations and for all of us who care about maintaining democratic values. i know that his passion for public service, commitment to internationalism, and insightful analyst are ending here after his time in washington. in closing, on behalf of my completion in the senate, i -- my colleagues in the senate, i extend my profound thanks to ambassador rudd. i thank him for his steadfast service, for the wisdom he has shared and for the friendship he has offered. the bonds between our two nations are stronger because of his work. i wish him and terere every

happiness in t the journey to come. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

immigration enforcement. my research focuses on social inequality. part of what i do is study and examine the way that an individual reacts and so society. i am a policy analyst. i look at policies that may actually improve or actually hinder the opportunities that americans have. being that you served on the peace officer standings and training commissions.

explain to her audience what that is and what you learned from the experience. >> the post committees are really important. training and committees that i've served on the maryland and california and devising in other states. these are state governing bodies. they help to decide what the standards will be for law enforcement in that particular state. art of what i do as a sociologist that socializes and social psychology's help inform the psychological evaluations. typically they are looking for something called social dominance. off the charts in terms of their behaviors. they do not necessarily look for hurts and other people and actually want to enact that. we want to prevent some of those individuals from becoming law enforcement. we also have bias that comes in and a lot of different regards. everybody has those so it's not

just about rolling people out for that. it is looking for people that have really high levels of those particular outcomes. part of what we do to help inform the types of questions a psychologist will use and also the way that they go about making those evaluations. one of the big things is that there is a shortage. part of what that shortage means getting people to come police officers is that often times police officers and police department have been choosing individuals who 10 or 20 years ago would not have become a police officer because they simply need people to come in and help. i have talked with police officers around the country. thousands of them. developed a virtual reality program for police and talk to them about the watering down of the standards in hiring practices. peace out in brookings. the headline is i.c.e. expansion has outpaced accountability. what are the remedies jess out last month. walk us through this piece.

>> part of what my brookings colleague at brookings he is also a professor. taking a step back and saying how did we get here. these interactions and part of what we wanted to do was step back and say why these happening. dishwasher treasure one thing that people often don't recognize is that people are still relatively new. it came about as a way to secure our borders and look at what is going on with immigration enforcement. so we focused on a couple of key things. when it comes to hiring. we have been seeing a watering down of hiring standards. they've been having these open houses, if you will come at job tears were evil, and they are

hired on the spot. one problem with that is that you have not done a proper background check. you do not know whether or not they're coming from another state or another jurisdiction where they been in law enforcement and they are on the list where they have created misconduct. texas has been one of the states at the forefront. they have a law called the wondering officer law that prevents law enforcement from going from department to department if they are under investigation or they've been fired for misconduct. that strange way that hiring is happening. the second part deals with the agent by which they are hired. not only did they drop the age range from 21 down to 18, they also increased it. so people can think about that. for people that have teenagers. thinking about that in a few years for them to be able to come i.c.e. agents and work in law enforcement in that way. people getting $50,000 bonuses to come on.

not necessarily saying that law enforcement should not give those type of bonuses, definitely thinking that they are underpaid and probably have the most difficult job that we see in america and a lot of bars around the world. when we dilute those things at the end of the bell curve, we start to see outcomes that we do not necessarily want to see. when it comes to training, that is one big thing that people do not recognize. twenty-two weeks down to about 47 days which is symbolic of president trump and him being the 47th president. thinking about going from 22 weeks down to 47 days. that means that they are only getting about one third of the training that they used to get. not getting five weeks of spanish language training. so now we have a barrier when they are interacting with certain people. when it comes to training, you also have where they are focusing more on tactics and less on interactions that they are having between people like

de-escalation. and we start to see the spillover effect. one thing i know about law enforcement is when people are not trained and hired well, people get hurt. when it comes to law enforcement that often means people get killed. >> i want to get back to training and a second spirit first, i want to invite our viewers to join in on this conversation. democrats, your line is 202748. republicans your line is 20278801. independence, your line is (202)748-8002. you can also send us a text message. we will join in on the conversation online on either facebooker on xp at our handle is@c-span wj. i want to put this ball screen so that our audience can see it. you went through hiring standards. you also wrote the duty to intervene should be mandated.

that transparency must be approved. absolute immunity should be removed and and the wrongdoing should be investigated. can you kind of go through those last few things for us. talk about whether or not that is actually feasible in these next two weeks of conversations that the white house has republicans and house democrats in the senate will have. >> look. one thing that we know about what is happening with enforcement right now isn't that well over 500,000 people have been detained or arrested over the past year. of those individual, there is a large percentage, about one third that do not have a criminal record. a large percentage of people that are u.s. citizens or u.s. residents and they have the right to be in this country to work and go to school. when i.c.e. agents are using skin tone or accent, these are things that we do not

necessarily want to see. this is specifically with law enforcement meaning if a law enforcement agencies something wrong going on, they have a duty to intervene and stop that. often times people do not recognize the paramilitary organizational structure of law enforcement. if you are outranked, you probably will not do something in that moment if someone above you as they are. we need to change that. we sell that with george floyd. it is important. part of that means we then have to protect those agents who are willing to speak up and speak out. willing to stop someone because they get highly stigmatized internally for doing those particular things. i do not think that we talk about that enough. next we talk about transparency, that should be a simple thing. a person should need a phone to record something to know what is happening. sometimes we forget that our

taxpayer dollars are paying for this. accordingly we should be able to necessarily dictate and also influence some of the things that are happening as it relates to transparency. republican congressmen just on, that should be a no-brainer. it should be a no-brainer. the big thing that people have also been talking about, i get the concern of i.c.e. agents being potentially attacked or docs. working for i spirit the same time, we need that level of transparency creates accountability. it also reduces the barrier that people had. people should think about this. they have their mouth covered up, just think about the difficulty that it is to interact with them. that can lead to problems in law enforcement. that transparency is very, very key. the last piece that doctor sanchez and i talked about really talked about data. we actually need data. people need to report in.

when it comes to absolute immunity, i really do not think that people recognize what absolute immunity means. only a few groups of people and a few times where absolute immunity comes in. meaning nothing can happen to you no matter what you do. people may think about the lethal weapon movie where this person said absolutely immunity. that is one of the times were people may think about that. it might be the president, it might be judges who are often times acting in good faith. rarely has it extended to someone like i.c.e. agents or law enforcement where due process has to come in. when you cannot violate people's civil and human rights. when you go from qualified immunity to absolute immunity, we start to see changes where people are above the law and they act accordingly. i think that we are seeing that in a lot of situations whether that be a person pulling over and there when you're getting broken whether the i.c.e. showing up in people's homes and

coming into those homes without a warrant, things that we know not only in many respects might they be illegal, they are also potentially morally wrong, but more importantly, they endanger people. not only the people that the -ite date -- i.c.e. agents interact with other people putting themselves in harm's way where they don't have all the information they need to go in and do their jobs. >> i want to turn back to the way that training has changed under the trump administration. this piece out this week identified the two agents in the alex pretty shooting, the fatal shooting of minnesota. one thing that they said, i want to scroll down here because it is a little bit further, they said that one of the agents is a border patrol agent that joined in 2018. another agent joined in 2014's and worked for the office of field operations. these are not folks involved in this specific shooting who just

joined the force. what do you make of that kind of tension between this idea that the folks that are being brought on are not very well trained and yet some of the folks involved in these very high-profile fading fatal shootings have been at the force for a long time. >> when people watch that video, law enforcement will tell you, even when the killing is justified, it still looks bad. it is a difficult thing to see. one thing about this incident was there were multiple officers involved. a lot of things happening. when they hear a person say gun, they are responding to that particular statement. they are responding to what they are hearing and they are responding to what they are seeing. what these agents did is also the entire package of what is happening in that moment that someone yelled gun. someone pulled a gun and took it off. they are always a bunch of things going on.

while we focus on these two individuals and why there's been a focus on the reports coming out afterwards, people have to realize that it is an organizational structure in play. in that moment there was a team operating together. there were other people involved in that particular interaction. when i think about that, the other thing that i think about as it relates to training, officers will tell you, and again, as i mentioned, i led the development of the virtual reality training program for law enforcement. i worked and trained thousands of police. interacted with a lot of officers in a lot of different police departments. they will always tell you that there is not enough training. that is why when you put not only officers who might have a lot ofso experience, then you couple that with agents that do not have a lot of experience, we think that that is a recipe that

could be good and sometimes it could be a recipe for disaster because they have certain protocols that they are following. things that they are looking for and watching. different officers responding to different things. the first bigg come through insurance markets, as climate risks make real estate uninsurable. this disruption kicks off a cascade. climate risk collapses insurance markets. insurance collapse cascades into mortgage markets. mortgage collapse cascades into property value losses. and the combination of insurance cost, mortgage collapse, and

home value losses thrashes the entire economy. don't believe me -- believe the chief economist of the mortgage giant freddie mac who said exactly this. he said it would be as bad as the 2008 recession. based only on coastal flood risk, and, of course, now we have wildfire risk, as well. and by the way, investor david burt, who predicted that 2008 recession, is now making bets predicting this one. in a joint editorial, senator sheehy and i warned of a torpedo to the hull of our economy from extreme weather, whether floods or wildfires, triggering exactly this cascade.

as the climate danger looms closer, more and more studies are monetizing that danger. let's go through some of the recent reporting. first off, this isn't later, this is now. on home insurance, look no further than florida's teetering home insurance market. where average premiums now have soared to over $14,000. or look westward from there, where 92% of texans now are worried about homeowner's insurance costs. the insurance peril comes as no surprise, because insurance, to quote first street, directly prices expected loss. first street describes how

insurance is often the first transmission channel for climate risk into markets. through premium increases, tighter terms, higher ded deductibles, nonrenewals, and, i'd add, mandates, like homeowners having to build a new roof on their home to get insurance coverage. it matters what insurance companies think about this because those insurance companies have both a duty and incentive to predict well, to make that an accurate transmission channel of climate risk into markets. and they're predicting storm clouds ahead. and they're batoning down. other reports show climate

change is already reducing americans' wealth and income. one study estimated that incomes in the united states are already lowering -- lower, by around 12%, since 2000. from where they'd have been if fossil fuel emissions were not causing climate disruptions. that 12% estimated income reduction was a mid-point in an estimated range between 2% income reduction and 22% income reduction. that study, by the way, looked at general temperature effects, not at the costs of specific like hurricanes, sea level rise, or wildfires. though the actual number is obviously worse. as to those uncounted extreme

weather effects, first street reports that natural disaster damages have risen more than ten-fold since the 1980's. and now costs the global economy over $200 billion per year. noaa's five-year average of billion dollar disasters in the period from 1980 to 2024 averaged nine of them per year. 1980 to 2024, average nine billion-dollar disasters per year. for 2020 to '24, that segment, the average has soared to 23 per year. another report notes that the greatest impact of climate change is from the, quote, frequency, magnitude, and duration of extreme events.

so, if you start with 12% income reduction, and then you add in the greatest impact of climate change on top of that, from extreme events, well, it's not just obviously worse, it's obviously a lot worse. counting those extreme weather effects. the study notes that climate change has altered weather in all recent years and all places. it's everywhere, not just where storms hit or wildfires burn. so, that's now. that's what's already here. what are we in for? a 2024 study published by the national bureau of economic

research found that each added degree centigrade of warming results in a 12% reduction of gdp. extrapolate that out, and the numbers get huge. the world meteorological organization estimates that the global cost of failing on climate, of letting the polluters continue to run rough shod over policy, is as much as $1200 trillion by the end of the century. $1200 trillion. another study has monetized ocean damages. rhode island is the ocean state, my wife is a marine scientist, i tend to pay attention to ocean

things. but we do tend to overlook ocean damage. it's worth looking out for the oceans, though, because 90% of the excess heat caused by fossil fuel emissions and 30% of the excess carbon dioxide from those fossil fuel emissions have all been absorbed by the oceans. 90% of the excess heat, 30% of the carbon dioxide, all absorbed by the oceans. without that ocean effect, fossil fuel emissions would likely have already made planet earth unlivable. -- for human kind. when you account for ocean impacts, when you monetize those ocean impacts, it nearly doubles

the social cost of carbon to human kind. the effects come through higher ocean temperatures, reduced ability of the ocean to hold oxygen, acidification of the ocean, extreme weather events, and accelerated sea level rise. specific dangers to god's creation include mass mortalities of organisms. large-scale bleaching of coral reefs. and the loss of sea grass beds and kelp forests. putting numbers to all of that gave this -- and i quote -- market use damages are the largest in absolute terms, totaling global annual losses of

$1.66 trillion in 2100, followed by damages in non-use values amounting to $224 billion, and nonmarket use values adding up to $182 billion in annual losses. that sums to over $2 trillion a year and it for sure an jountd. again -- and under count. again, there is a lot here not included in ocean carbon cost alling layingses, damages that the epa -- it is important, but it is not included in carbon calculations included some impacts on fisheries and tourism and recreation, and, of course,

esthetic values. that's a pretty big sweep of harms. the ocean damage reports shows 2020 blue cost of carbon at $4,800 of harm. by 2030, four years from now, it's up from $48 per ton to $72 per ton. the trajectory is not good. remember that these numbers are an attempt to monotize a looming disaster. as another system pointed out, some of the benefits that our natural systems provide to

humankind, and i quote here, are not substitutable, meaning they must be protected as they cannot be replaced by technology when they are gone. irreplace ability is one -- irreplaceability is one danger, irreversible acceleration is another. some of the harms fossil fuel emissions caused hit tipping points that kick off, and i quote here, a cascade of accelerating and unmanageable damage. a cascade of accelerating and unmanageable damage. leading to dramatic worsening for humankind. in a worsening trajectory of

damage. tipping points can have a profound effect on markets. markets are built around expectations, and one of the main expectations around which they are built is the expected lifetime of assets. well, as of today the central case estimate for sea-level rise is around three feet by 2100. not good for homes or businesses that lie around or below three feet above sea level. not great for homes or businesses that are within range of ocean storms, swamping ashore above the three feet of sea-level rise, but manageable

with respect to considerable amounts of real estate. now, imagine that tomorrow we learn that we have permanently destabilized the greenland ice sheet. or the aptly named doomsday glaciers in west antarctica. suddenly the expect sea-level rise by the end of the century doubles or more, and we know that we are eventually in for 12 or 26 feet of sea-level rise. market expectations around the valuations of trillions of dollars of real estate will suddenly change, provoking

massive value destruction that will cascade through markets. it will make 2008 look like child's play. on a more immediate scale, that is what is happening in insurance markets right now as homeowners along the gulf coast and florida and wildfire country out west, are finding out that the property that they thought had a certain value is not worth so much any longer. if they can afford insurance but it's doubled or tripled then the present value of the heightened insurance cost over the time they hold the property, suppresses the property's value. their property values go down. florida led the country in

property value reduction last year, i think as a result of this. if you can't get insurance at all, then you have trouble getting a mortgage on your property. which means if you're not selling to a hedge fund or billionaire, you have to mark your property down. you have to sell it for cheap because there's simply isn't a mortgage available for it. jay powell, who's useless on climate but knows a little bit about mortgages and markets and the economy, has predicted that whole regions of the united states will shortly be unmortgageable. and, of course, when insurance gets out of control and mortgages become unavailable and property values crash, that cascades into very significant and painful recession.

what else do we know? we know that our estimates of the worst kinds of damage that fossil fuel emissions are causing humankind have been wrong. they have been too low. i quote, the severity and frequency of extreme events are unprecedented and beyond model proje projections. it's worse than we thought and it's going to get worse faster than we thought. remember that just by its nature monetizing the human harm caused by fossil fuel emissions disrupting our climate and natural systems is an almost disgraceful undercount of the

actual damage to what one writer called our p-- our planetry solvency. as another author wrote, while the social costs understood of people of untrammeled pollution are colossal, the ecological costs, those born by nonhuman entities are almost too vast to grasp. when you monetize things, you blind yourself to those costs that are almost too vast to grasp because looking at them through the lens of money blinds you to them. there are losses, massive

losses, and i quote again here, that appear only in nature, almost never in a form that capital can see. that is the defect of trying to monetize the harm we are causing to the natural systems that sustain us. montization by definition fails to acknowledge most of the harm and the danger. it fails to acknowledge most of the harm and danger to our species and it fails by a mile to acknowledge the harm and danger to the rest of god's creation. even so, blinkard, the numbers are colossal and the threat looms. all of this has called the world economic forum to elevate

ecosystem collapse as a mid-to-high-level risk. other studies advance the risk of planetary insolvency, others warn about our continued fossil fuel pollution if left unchecked then mass mortality, involuntary mass migration, severe economic contraction and conflict become more likely. heading into a world of more mass mortality, more involuntary mass migration, more severe economic contraction and more conflict it worth paying a little more attention.

existing modeling practices understate economic impacts, and further, as one study pointed out, at the extreme they do not recognize the risk of ruin. they presume that this damage will fall into a predictable center case scenario, but there are outer case scenarios, nontrivial ones, real ones that create the risk of human ruin. researchers have not only looked at the costs of climate change, they've also studied the economic benefits of eliminating carbon pollution. an oecd organization for

economic cooperation and develop study suggests that the most advance the economies on our planet would enjoy an increase of 60% in gdp by 2050. those societies 60% richer by 2050 from getting climate right. and they suggest lower-income countries would enjoy an increase of 124% in gdp, more than doubling their wealth from getting climate right. so this is a two-sided equation, continue to fail and ignore it and these warnings of economic calamity become our future.

be responsible and get it right, and greater wealth and prosperity become our future. a third of global gdp lost in this century, if the climate crisis and the polluters causing it are allowed to run unchecked, is a pretty dire scenario to subject the people we represent to. anyway, back to maman hall, here we are, where none of this discussion is taking place, where these risks and dangers are simply treated as if they don't exist because of a different montization, the

montization of our politics, defending a $700 billion annual subsidy powered by unlimited dark money spending, the fossil fuel industry and its vast array of front groups have used the power of money and politics to strangle this discussion. in our new american petro state, the power of petro money and our corrupted petro politics have turned this supposedly greatest deliberative body into a tomb of silence about this danger, hall

mortuariy of democracy. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

mr. thune: i ask the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, all postcloture time be expired, the senate vote on confirmation of the peterson nomination at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. further, cloture motions filed monday ripen following disposition of the peterson nomination. further, if cloture is invoked on the benton nomination, the senate vote at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow. finally if any nominations are completed -- confirmed wednesday, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: mr. president, i move

to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 613. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, jurtin r. ols -- justin r. olson offin to be district judge for the southern district of indiana. mr. thune: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the clerk: cloture motion, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the miami nation of justin r. olson of indiana to be judge for the southern district of indiana, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. thune: i ask the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: thank you, mr.

tax filing season began last week and thanks to house republicans it's going to be easier than ever for working families to file their taxes. and why you ask wax because republicans ended, expanded the standard deduction. to put it in plain english the

first $31,500 of family earnings is tax-free so the first $31,500 for a family earnings tax-free and that saves you time. about 210 million hours of paperwork gone and that's 210 million hours and 210 million hours of time that the american people can spend on doing what they want to do and not filing their tax returns, burdensome tax returns. here's what's really important. every single democrat voted against that $31,500 standard deduction. every single democrat voted against saving you time and making tax filing easier and

every single democrat voted against saving you money. remember, and i say this every time i'm up here in one of these times is going to get covered by you all, every single democrat voted to raise every single american tax. i'll say it again every single democrat voted to raise your taxes. please highlight that in your stories. we would think that democrats would be proud to raise your taxes but they need to own that. republicans are saving you time and saving you money so this week house republicans are taking that message directly to the people all across the country. we are reminding americans exactly what happened in the impact it will have on their families. simply put republicans voted to make tax filing easier. less bureaucracy.

republicans voted to cut taxes for working families to keep warm money in your pockets. democrats again voted against it. democrats want more bureaucracy and democrats want more of your hard-earned tax dollars. democrats want to raise your taxes. republicans want to lower costs and keep more money in your pocket. so now i will turn it over quor call? quor the presiding officer: no. mr. banks: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to speak about a very important and potentially lifesaving bill that i've introduced called tyler's law. but before i talk about what this law and what this bill would do, i want to tell you a little bit about who it's named after. tyler joseph shamash was a

bright, inquisitive, and compassionate boy from california. he was adventurous. he loved computers. he was interested in bitcoin before most people had even heard of bitcoin. and he had a knack for building and fixing things. tyler's mother, julie, said that tyler was, quote, like a little professor. but in his early teens tyler started using marijuana and eventually became addicted to hard drugs. his family did what any family would do, they tried to help him with therapy programs and sober living facilities, but tyler continued to struggle with addiction. and at one point, he overdosed. on top of all of this, t■yler's

flame and doctors didn't know what the drugs that he was taking were or that they were laced with fentanyl. in october 2018, tyler was taken to the hospital from his sober living house with a suspected overdose. at the hospital, tyler wassed a map stered -- administered a standard drug panel, which came back clean, so he was eventually discharged. shortly thereafter, though, tyler died of a fentanyl overdose. he was just 19 years old. when tyler was still in the hospital, just hours before he passed, his mother, juli, came to meet him there, and asked the doctors if the drug test was really clean. she repeatedly asked if the drug panel tested for fentanyl. she was told yes, the drug panel

did test for fentanyl, because fentanyl is an opioid, is what she was told. tragically, mr. president, that's just not true. many doctors are unaware that the standard drug panels that many emergency rooms administer don't detect fentanyl, because fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. this is a well-known problem. the college of american pathologists has highlighted it. the association for diagnostics and laboratory medicines has warned labs about it. the emergency nurses' association has been advocating for a solution. but the problem continues. sadly, fentanyl overdoses are a common story, and a lot of families in my state, mr. president, i know in your state, too, know what it's like to have a loved one who suffers,

or has suffered from a fentanyl overdose. if tyler's family and doctors who were treating him had known tyler was suffering from a fentanyl overdose, they could have given him a higher level of care. perhaps things might have turned out a whole lot differently. though, we can never know for sure. but one thing is clear, tyler deserved to be tested. thousands of americans poisoned by fentanyl deserve to be tested so that they can receive the proper level of medical care. since tyler's tragic passing, his mother, juli, who joins us in the gallery today, has been on a mission to make sure that other parents do not have to suffer the same unimaginable heartbreak that she did.

i've had the pleasure to meet with julie and so many other moms and dads who have been affected by this, and i can say that juli has turned tragedy into action, and she is an inspiring woman. mr. president, that's why i was honored to introduce tyler's law, with my colleague, senator padilla, from california, truly a bipartisan effort. and it's why i was proud when the help committee, of which i'm a member, reported out tyler's law unanimously, just a couple of weeks ago. tyler's law directs the department of health and human services to study whether hospital emergency departments should routinely test overdose patients for fentanyl. based on the

on the studies, hhs will issue guidance to hospitals about when and how they should implement fentanyl testing in the emergency room. this is really simple and common sense. mr. president, it's hard to overstate just how badly needed this law is. president trump is aggressively going after the drug traffickers flooding our streets with deadly drugs, but the fentanyl epidemic is still taking far too many american lives. synthetic opioids like fentanyl killed about 48,000 americans in 2024, and it continues to kill thousands more each and every month. but we could save many of those lives if emergency rooms were better equipped to detect and treat fentanyl overdoses. that is why it's so important that hhs help hospitals adopt effect fentanyl testing.

mr. president, i'm pleased to see that tyler's law has bipartisan support, and that support continues to grow. i look forward to bringing tyler's law to a vote on this floor, the senate floor soon, so that we can begin to potentially save many, many lives. tyler's law -- tyler's life was cut short by fentanyl, but if we can pass tyler's law, if we can take this important step in making sure that those battling fentanyl or different drug addictions get the care and the testing that they need, then tyler's everlasting legacy will be saving lives. and i'm for that, mr. president. i know you're for that. and i hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this bill when it comes to the senate floor soon. with that mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. banks: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. banks: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators being able to speak up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. banks: i ask unanimous consent the subcommittee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the senate proceed to s. res. 581. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 581, honoring the life of corporal grade one matthew t. ty snook of the delaware state police. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged, and the senate will proceed the measure. mr. banks: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that

be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. somewhere mr. banks: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on wednesday, february 4. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of executive calendar number 614, aaron peterson, postcloture. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. banks: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the

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